Schools honour Truth and Reconciliation
By Emily Bowen, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Mildmay Town Crier GREY-BRUCE – Students across Grey-Bruce marked the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30 by wearing orange, learning about Indigenous history and culture, and taking part in activities intended to keep the work of reconciliation going beyond a single day. The day is a time to remember the children who never returned home from residential schools, honour Survivors and recognize the ongoing effects of the residential school system on Indigenous people, families and communities. At both Bluewater District and Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Boards, students, staff and families were encouraged to wear orange in recognition of Orange Shirt Day and the message that “Every Child Matters.” Flags were lowered at schools and work sites, while schools participated in...
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MPs to hold first vote on federal government’s key economic bill C-39
By David Baxter and Craig Lord The federal government’s contentious legislation to speed up major projects and reduce the number of labour disruptions is scheduled to come up for its first vote in the House of Commons Thursday. The vote will decide if Bill C-39 moves forward for further study at a House of Commons committee. The Liberals now have a majority of seats so the bill is expected to pass. Bill C-39 proposes to expand the government’s one-project, one-review, within one-year approach for major infrastructure plans to other projects across the country. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said his party would pass the legislation on to committee study to propose amendments to the “weak, watered-down, long-delayed” bill. NDP Leader Avi Lewis says Canadians did not vote for the “wholesale rewriting”...
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MPs to hold first vote on federal government’s key economic bill C-39
By David Baxter The federal government’s contentious legislation to speed up major projects and reduce the number of labour disruptions comes up for a vote in the House of Commons today. The vote will decide if Bill C-39 moves forward for further study, with the government planning to strike a special committee to study the wide-ranging legislation. NDP House leader Don Davies says he asked for his party be allowed to participate in that committee but Government House leader Steven MacKinnon turned him down. At a press conference today with labour and First Nations leaders, Davies and NDP Leader Avi Lewis said the legislation must not pass as written because of its effects on labour and treaty rights. The government insists it will uphold its duty to consult with Indigenous...
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New partnership prepares First Nations firefighters for future wildfire seasons
By Carrie Ivardi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NWOnewswatch.com GULL BAY — When a number of First Nations communities in the region were directly affected by wildland fires this summer and the Ministry of Natural Resources was already stretched thin, 35 firefighters were available from a relatively new partnership between the Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario, the RCMP and Indigenous Services Canada. These firefighters were trained at Kab Lake Lodge during four training sessions between November 2025 and October of this year, according to Ashley Russell-Taylor, chief operations officer for the Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario (IPCO). Russell-Taylor and representatives from IPCO, Indigenous Services Canada and the RCMP were in Kab Lake during the first week of October to observe a week of fall training of First Nations firefighters in preparation...
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Denied Indigenous rights, NunatuKavut council fighting Canada in Federal Court
The NunatuKavut Community Council in Labrador is fighting Canada’s decision to deny the group Indigenous rights under Section 35 of the Constitution. In a Federal Court application, the council says the Canadian government ignored historical and genealogical evidence when it ended Indigenous rights talks with the group last month. Dated late last week, the application seeks to quash the government’s decision to abandon talks with the council. The NunatuKavut Community Council says it represents about 6,000 Inuit in southern and central Labrador, though it is not recognized by other Inuit groups, including the Inuit Nunatsiavut government in northern Labrador. Last month, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada said information provided by the council did not meet established tests for rights under Section 35 of the Constitution. Section 35 of the...
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Manitoba Wildlife Federation calls for full moose closure in Ducks, Porcupine Mountains
By Steven Sukkau, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Sun The Manitoba Wildlife Federation is calling on the province to completely close moose harvesting in the Ducks and Porcupine mountains, saying the populations in the areas have declined to critically low levels. Chris Heald, Senior Policy Analyst with the Manitoba Wildlife Federation, said the organization wants the province to enforce the existing conservation closure and prohibit all moose harvest, including cow moose. “The population has been decimated,” Heald said. “We want to see the province enforcing a complete closure.” The organization has also raised concerns about Indigenous harvesting for ceremonial and sustenance purposes in the area. Heald said the federation has spoken with First Nations leaders, elders and other conservation and hunting organizations about the situation. “Even some of the First...
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Broad support for proposal to amend Whitehorse Official Community Plan
By Noah Korver, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yukon News Discussion of the controversial proposal to amend Whitehorse’s Official Community Plan (OCP) returned to city council chambers with the presentation of a public input report by city administration. The report relates back to the application in process to amend the city’s OCP to re-designate certain tracts of city land from greenspace to future planning, and to allow mineral exploration on future planning lands. The application was submitted by the Vancouver-based company Gladiator Metals earlier this year and has generated contentious debate around mineral exploration and the role of municipal authority in regulating industry. The application to amend the OCP was open to public comment throughout the summer of 2026, with the comment period closing at the conclusion of an in person...
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Toronto man charged in child expoloitation investigation
TORONTO, ON -A 26-year-old Toronto man is facing charges after the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Child Sexual Exploitation Unit, with assistance from the Toronto Police Service, executed a search warrant at a Toronto residence. OPP and the Toronto Police Service arrested and charged a Toronto resident following a child sexual abuse and exploitation investigation that saw a search warrant executed at a Toronto residence Thursday, May 28, 2026 and a number of electronic devices were seized. Police have charged Shawn Thompson, 26, of Toronto with the following Criminal Code offences: Possession of child sexual abuse and exploitation material, section 163.1(4) – two counts Make available child sexual abuse and exploitation material, section 163.1(3) Thompson is scheduled to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto on Friday, October 23,...
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A rocky ‘wonderland’ in Arizona is poised to be the next US national park
By Matthew Brown An area of towering rock spires in southeastern Arizona known among Native Americans as the Land of Standing-Up Rocks is poised to become the nation’s newest national park. Legislation to create Chiricahua National Park is expected to be sent to the White House in coming days for President Donald Trump’s signature. It passed Congress with bipartisan backing and would be the 64th U.S. national park. The 19-square-mile (49-square kilometer) site is within the historical territory of the Chiricahua Apache tribes. It was designated a national monument in the 1920s to preserve hundreds of pinnacle-shaped rocks formed from an ancient volcanic eruption. “We’re the Grand Canyon state, so we know about this kind of landscape,” Arizona Rep. Juan Ciscomani, the Republican sponsor of the Chiricahua National Park Act,...
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Nunavut duo wins at Pan-Arctic Vision
By Daron Letts, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News A duo from Nunavut earned one of three honours at the fourth-annual Pan-Arctic Vision competition in Denmark on Oct. 2. Christine Piunguałaq Tootoo of Rankin Inlet and Tooma Laisa of Iqaluit shared the award for “most feeling of community and togetherness.” The event, billed as the Arctic’s answer to the Eurovision Song Contest, took place at the Nordic House in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands. “I love experiencing new cultures and languages,” Tootoo said in a preprepared video broadcast before her performance alongside Laisa. “Travelling gives me a zest for life.” Travel was the theme of their traditional drum song, Kiviuq. Kiviuq is the name of a legendary Inuk who travelled across “the imaginary borders” of Inuit Nunangat, Tootoo said as she introduced...
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‘A long time coming’ for Six Nations as historical land claim court case finally begins
By Barbara Latkowski Writer Is the Haldimand Proclamation a treaty? Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation says ‘yes’. Six Nations decades long land claim finally went to trial on Monday in Toronto after Six Nations (SGNR) sued Canada and Ontario, a case that began in 1995 over sold land spanning more than 150-years. Under the 1784 Haldimand Proclamation, which Six Nations says is undoubtedly a ‘treaty’, the Crown granted about 950,000 acres of land to SNGR in Ontario, known as the Haldimand Tract, in return for their alliance during the Revolutionary War. (1775—1783) Canada and Ontario maintain that the proclamation is not a treaty. Both disagree that they have been at fault in their dealings with the Six Nations. SNGR long‑time elected councillor Helen Miller says she’s glad...
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Canadian corporations encouraged to sign pledge for Indigenous reconciliation
By Alessia Passafiume Private businesses in Canada are being encouraged to sign a declaration committing to strengthening their relationships with Indigenous Peoples and communities. The Corporate Declaration was developed by multiple companies and private entities — including Microsoft, Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel and Teck Resources — in partnership with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. The declaration is a response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action no. 92, which directs the corporate sector to respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and apply them in their practices. That includes through meaningful consultation and obtaining free, prior and informed consent before proceeding with economic development projects. The commission made 94 Calls to Action in its landmark final report in 2015 on the history and...
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Three decades in the making Six Nations its multi-billion dollar land case finally getting its day in court
By Lynda Powless Editor Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) is in court in Toronto after waiting 31 years to face Canada and Ontario over loss and mismanagement of Six Nations’ land and trust funds. SNEC is charging the Crown had set aside 384,451 acres of land along the Grand River, known as the Haldimand Tract, for the “Mohawks and such others of the Six Nations” for their use and ownership in recognition of the Six Nations’ allyship in the Revolutionary War. The lands are estimated to be worth $13.9 billion and $8.7 trillion. SNEC is an elected band council created by Canada that forcibly replaced the traditional Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council (HCCC) in 1924. The trial is also expected to question who actually represents Six Nations. The 1784 Haldimand Proclamation, says...
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Six Nations Fire department was smokin’ hot with dancers!
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Six Nations Elected Council updating financial reporting
Six Nations Elected Council’s Finance Committee is pushing for greater financial transparency and regular departmental updates after reviewing the organization’s first-quarter financial report. Councillor Alaina VanEvery, Chair of the FInance Committee presented the April-to-June 2026 quarterly report and called for financial updates to be provided to Council committees going forward. VanEvery also recommended changing the agenda’s description of the report from “Q1 2026-27 interim unaudited financial statements” to a quarterly financial report, noting that the document contains revenue and expenditure information rather than full financial statements. The report provides an overview of year-to-date spending, budget variances and departmental finances. She said regular updates would help committees monitor spending, identify potential surpluses or deficits and avoid surprises at year-end. VanEvery members also proposed that individual committees receive quarterly financial snapshots for...
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Six Nations Elected Council examine financial, governance and preparedness technologies
Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC)’s Finance Committee gave an update on the First Nations Financial Management Board and the financial-management structures connected to new 10-year fiscal relationship agreements at the General Council meeting on September 22. Councillor Alaina VanEvery said the Finance Committee has made the topic a standing item as it works to better understand the agreements and the organizations involved. The new fiscal relationship grants provide 10-year funding agreements with greater flexibility, but VanEvery said the committee wants to conduct its due diligence before making decisions. The committee has been reviewing the roles of the First Nations Financial Management Board, First Nations Tax Commission, First Nations Finance Authority and First Nations Infrastructure Institute. VanEvery said research by Six Nations’ new Chief Financial Officer, Donna Dodson, also found that...
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Six Nations may look at emergency evacuee planning
Six Nations Elected Chief Sherri-Lyn Hill says the community could have a greater role in supporting First Nations evacuees during emergencies as provincial First Nations leaders work to strengthen emergency management and evacuation planning across Ontario. Hill gave an update during the Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) General Council meeting on September 22, outlining her participation in a Chiefs of Ontario Senior Leadership Table meeting focused on emergency management, as well as a recent visit with former residents of Iroquois Lodge who were displaced by flooding and relocated to Brantford. On September 10, Hill attended a welcome celebration at Fox Ridge Long Term Care in Brantford alongside Councillors Melba Thomas, Cynthia Jamieson and Greg Frazer. The event welcomed former residents of Iroquois Lodge who had been evacuated following flooding in...
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New York, New York! Indigenous Fashion Week with 30 designers
By Dionne Phillips, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Backstage at Indigenous New York Fashion Week (INYFW), Dusty eGrande helped lace up garments from his sibling Cheyenne Rain LeGrande’s collection. A year earlier, Cheyenne was a model and helped him with his own designs. “It’s kind of so special because now he’s backstage with me, helping me lace up these garments, and it’s kind of nice that we can help each other out in that way,” she told IndigiNews. The artist from Bigstone Cree Nation closed the Emerging Voices show on Sept. 11 with a collection that included laced-up mini skirts, tops with jingle dress cones and a wearable art piece made from 3,300 pop can tabs and ribbons. INYFW’s second year ran from Sept. 10 to 15, with 30 Indigenous designers...
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How Canada really became a country about to be told
It has begun. What has been called one of the biggest frauds in Canadian history is finally about to be heard. The theft, and or swindling, of almost a million acres of land belonging to the Haudenosaunee people is about to have its day in a Canadian court. Hmmm… Justice from a Canadian Court. From Canada. Before we get into the obvious conflict of interest in a Canadian court hearing a case against Canada let’s remember what this is about. Three decades of waiting has finally come with the Six Nations Elected Council’s (SNEC) land case. You remember it. Under then elected Chief the late Wellington Staats SNEC, under the name of Six Nations of the Grand River, launched a court case in 1995 going after the Crown for the...
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Today in History
Oct 4 In 2023, the federal government said it was putting $740,000 toward further assessing the feasibility of searching a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of two First Nations women. Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree said more work needs to be done to figure out how a search can be undertaken. In 2023, a new Statistics Canada report said that between 2009 and 2021, Indigenous women and girls were killed at a rate six times higher than that of women and girls who were not Indigenous. It also said homicides of Indigenous women and girls are less likely to result in the most serious murder charges. Oct 6 In 2003, Jordin Tootoo cracked the Nashville Predators’ line-up making him the first player of Inuit descent to play in the NHL....
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